Label transferring apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for picking labels from a magazine and delivering them to label-applying apparatus includes a continuously rotating horizontal drum encircled by a stationary cam having upper and lower annular cam tracks. A slide carried by the drum and movable radially thereof supports a yoke extending lengthwise of it and which it carries around the inside of the cam so that a pair of laterally spaced cam follower rollers on the yoke can engage the upper and lower cam tracks. A vertical vacuum bar extending upwardly at the inner end of the yoke is provided with a vertical row of air inlets facing the outer end of the slide and has its lower end pivoted to the inner end of the yoke on a vertical pivot axis at one side of the row of inlets. The cam has a concave track section engageable by the rollers and forming an arc whose axis is at a point coinciding with said pivot axis while both of the rollers are engaging the concave track section. A rotatable connection between the yoke and slide is located between said pivoting means and the outer end of the yoke and permits the yoke to turn on a vertical axis relative to the slide as the rollers travel around the concave track section of the cam with said pivoting means dwelling at said point. The drum also has a cam surface adjacent its axis engaged by a roller on the outer end of a lever projecting laterally from said pivoting means, whereby to cause the vacuum bar to swing away from the circular cam to pull a label away from the magazine while said pivoting means dwells at said point.

United States Patent [191 Total 1 Oct. 28, 1975 LABEL TRANSFERRING APPARATUS [75] Inventor: Robert V. Total, St. Marys, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Stackpole Machinery Company,

Johnsonburg, Pa.

[22] Filed: Dec. 13, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 532,631

[52] US. Cl. 271/95; 156/571; 271/96 [51] Int. Cl. B65H 3/08 [58] Field of Search 27l/94, 95, 96, 108, 100; 2l4/8.5 D; 156/571, 568

[56] I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,567,559 3/1971 Dullinger 271/95 X 3,718,328 2/1973 Comstock 271/95 X Primary ExaminerEvon C. Blunk Assistant ExaminerBruce H. Stoner, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or FirmBrown, Murray, Flick & Peckham [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for picking labels from a magazine and delivering them to label-applying apparatus includes a continuously rotating horizontal drum encircled by a stationary cam having upper and lower annular cam tracks. A slide carried by the drum and movable radially thereof supports a yoke extending lengthwise of it and which it carries around the inside of the cam so that a pair of laterally spaced cam follower rollers on the yoke can engage the upper and lower cam tracks. A vertical vacuum bar extending upwardly at the inner end of the yoke is provided with a vertical row of air inlets facing the outer end of the slide and has its lower end pivoted to the inner end of the yoke on a vertical pivot axis at one side of the row of inlets. The cam has a concave track section engageable by the rollers and forming an arc whose axis is at a point coinciding with said pivot axis while both of the rollers are engaging the concave track section. A rotatable connection between the yoke and slide is located between said pivoting means and the outer end of the yoke and permits the yoke to turn on a vertical axis relative to the slide as the rollers travel around the concave track section of the cam with said pivoting means dwelling at said point. The drum also has a cam surface adjacent its axis engaged by a roller on the outer end of a lever projecting laterally from said pivoting means, whereby to cause the vacuum bar to swing away from the circular cam to pull a label away from the magazine while said pivoting means dwells at said point.

8 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 Sheet 2 of5 3,915,448

US. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 Sheet 3 of5 3,915,448

U.S. Patent Oct.28, 1975 Sheet4 of5 3,915,448

U.S. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 Sheet 5 of5 3,915,448

LABEL TRANSFERRING APPARATUS There are many machines for applying labels from magazines to containers as the containers pass through or by the machines, and even more patents disclosing such label-applying machines. In' some cases it is highly desirable that the labels be applied with no more than one thirty-second of an inch variation in the positions they occupy on the containers. Machines that make use of vacuum in removing labels from magazines have difficulty in applying the labels to containers with such accuracy at high speed. By high speed is meant several hundred containers per minute. Part of the difficulty is attributable to the apparatus that removes labels from the magazines.

It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus for removing labels in succession from a magazine by means of vacuum and delivering them to label-applying apparatus, in which the label-removing member engages the same area of each label so that all of them will be in the same area of each label so that all of them will be in the same position when delivered to labelapplying apparatus such as a labeling drum that applies them to passing containers.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a plan view;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the right-hand side of FIG. 1',

FIG. 3 is a combined elevation and vertical section taken on the line IIIIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section taken on the line IVIV of FIG. 3;

FIGS. 5 to 8 are diagrammatic views showing the rotating parts in different positions around the circular cam;

FIG. 9 is a horizontal section taken on the line XIIX of FIG. 3 to show the rotary valve; and

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9, but showing the rotary valve in a different position.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawings, a vertical shaft 1 that is driven at its lower end continuously by means that form no part of this invention extends up through a table 2, above which a ring cam 3 is mounted coaxially with the shaft. The cam is clamped in an elevated position in circumferentially spaced supporting members 4 bolted to the table. The cam is spaced several inches from the encircled shaft, and in the intervening space a drum 5 is rigidly mounted on the shaft.

The drum has a downwardly extending hub 6, above which the drum is provided with an open-end slot 7 extending diametrically across it. Slidably 'mounted in the opposite ends of this slot are two slides 8, the opposite edges of which are overlapped by parallel retaining bars 9 bolted to the underlying portions of the drum. The inner end of each slide is provided with a recess 10 that permits it to be moved inwardly part-way around the drive shaft, but the slides are urged apart by a pair of coil springs 11 between them.

The outer end of each slide extends downwardly toward the table and is provided with an outwardly facing arcuate recess 12. Fitting in this recess is the curved portion of a yoke 13 that has arms 14 and 15 at its top and bottom extending inwardly above and below the slide. The inner ends of these arms are provided with axially aligned openings, in which is rotatably mounted a vertical pin 16 that extends down through an arcuate slot 17 in the slide. Between the bottom of the slide and the lower arm of the yoke there is a laterally extending lever that includes an arm 18, one end of which is rigidly mounted on the pin. The free end of this arm carries a cam-follower roller 19 that is held in engagement with the drum hub by means of a coil spring 20 attached at one end to a lug 21 projecting laterally from the upper end of the pin. The other end of the spring is connected with the far end of the underlying bar 9.

The outer end of each yoke 13 is provided with a pair of vertically spaced, laterally offset projections 24 and 25, each having a vertical passage through it. Mounted in the upper passage is a pin 26 that supports a camfollower roller' 27 at its lower end. Mounted in the lower passage is a pin 28 that supports a cam-follower roller 29 at its upper end. These rollers are held against the ring cam 3 by the pressure of coil springs 11 between the inner ends of the two slides. The ring cam is provided with upper and lower annular cam tracks 31 and 32, the upper one being engaged by the upper rollers 27 on the yokes, and the lower track being engaged by the lower rollers 29 on the yokes. The upper cam track has a smaller diameter than the lower track for most of its circumference, and both tracks are circular most of the way around the ring. Consequently, during most of the travel of the yoke rollers around the inside of the cam ring, the rollers of each yoke hold their yoke at an angle to the center line of the two slides, as shown at the left-hand side of FIG. 4. The variations in the cam track contours that cause the rollers to svwng the yokes in the opposite direction will be described later.

Above the inner end of each yoke 13 there is a vertical vacuum bar 35, the lower end of which has a laterally projecting foot 36 rigidly connected to the underlying pin 16 by a screw 37. The vacuum bar is provided with a vertical row of air inlets 38 facing in the general direction of the outer end of the underlying slide. This row of inlets is offset from the axis of the pin in the direction of rotation of the drum. Consequently, if the pin is rotated in the yoke, the air inlets will be swung toward or away from the outer end of the slide. The vacuum bar is provided with a vertical passage 39 connected with all of the air inlets and connected at its lower end iwth the lower end of a passage through a fitting 40 secured to the side of the bar adjacent the drive shaft. connected to the top of this fitting is the lower end of a flexible tube 41, the upper end of which is connected to a fitting '42 extending down from the bottom of a valve encircling the drive shaft as shown in FIGS. 3, 9 and 10.

The two fittings 42 mounted in diametrically opposite vertical passages through a circular valve plate 43 that encircles the drive shaft, where it is seated on a shoulder of the shaft. The plate is secured to the shaft for rotation with it by means of a set screw 44. By loosening the screw, the plate can be rotated relative to the shaft to make any adjustment that may be necessary. Rigidly mounted on top of this plate in any suitable manner is a disc 46 provided with rectangular holes 47 through it directly above fittings 42. The disc is made of a plastic so that it will form a better seal with the top plate of the valve. This top plate preferably is formed from two concentric rings 48 and 49 (FIG. 9 and 10) for convenience in manufacture. The inner ring encircles the shaft with a slight clearance between them. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, both rings are held stationary by dowel pins 51 extending into them and into a cover plate 52 (FIG. 3) above them, this latter plate being pressed down onto the valve by a spring 53 beneath one end of a support 54 in which the upper end of drive shaft 1 is rotatably mounted. Two dowel pins 56 prevent the cover plate from rotating. This plate is provided with a radial passage 57, the outer end of which is connected to a tube 58 that leads to a source of vacuum. The inner end of the passage is connected by a short vertical hole with an opening 59 extending through the top plate of the valve.

As also shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, opening 59 extends a few degrees around the drive shaft. One end of the opening is rectangular so that each rectangular hole 47 in the plastic disc 46 can register with it in turn as the disc is revolved by the shaft. Upon such registration, full vacuum is applied to the vacuum bar 35 connected with that side of the valve. The width of the opening then is reduced somewhat for a few degrees and then is greatly reduced so that it becomes a narrow arcuate slot 61 between the two rings of the top plate of the valve. The far end of this slot terminates a short distance before an outlet to the atmosphere. This outlet is formed by a shallow arcuate recess 62 in the bottom of the top plate. When a hole 47 in the plastic disc reaches this recess, the vacuum to the vacuum bar is broken. The reason that the holes in the plastic disc are rectangular is so that full vacuum will be applied to the vacuum bars more quickly than if the holes were round. The reason that the opening in the top plate of the valve is reduced to a narrow slot 61 for most of its length is to reduce the vacuum loss in case a label does not cover the holes 38 in a vacuum bar.

The pick-up drum delivers labels from a magazine to label-applying apparatus, preferably another drum. Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, the support 54 for the upper end of drive shaft 1 may extend laterally away from the shaft and support the upper end of a drive shaft 65 for a label-applying drum, the specific construction of which is not material to the present invention so its position is merely indicated in FIG. 1 by a circular dotted line 66. This drum applies a label to each successive container 67 moving along a conveyor 68 tangent to the drum at the side nearly opposite to the pick-up drum, which feeds labels to the label drum. The drives for the two drums are geared together.

Labels are received by the pick-up drum from a troughlike magazine 70 that overlaps the ring cam and extends radially away from it, as indicated in dotted lines in FIGS. 1 and 8. The labels are packed together and are supported on edge in a row in the magazine. They are urged toward the pick-up drum by a back-up plate (not shown) that is moved along the magazine by means of a spring or a counterweight. The opposite sides of the outlet of the magazine have vertical lips 71 projecting a short distance toward each other to overlap the ends of the labels to hold the row of labels in place. An imaginary straight line extending lengthwise of the magazine perpendicular to the labels therein and passing through the axis of drive shaft 1 is disposed at an angle to a line connecting the axes of the drive shafts of both drums. For the particular arrangement of elements disclosed herein this angle is about 22, but it could be a different angle, depending upon the orientation. of the. vacuum bars.

OPERATION g The operation of the pick-up drum is such that as it moves each vacuum bar into position in front of the magazine, the travel of the bar with the continuously rotating drum stops while the vacuum bars draws a label against itself and then swings away from the magazine to pull one end of the label away from the adjoining lip 71, after which the bar again is rotated with the drum. As the bar with a label carried by it passes the label drum, the label is released from the bar and simultaneously picked up by the drum, which carries it past a gluing roll 73 and then applies it to a container 67 on the conveyor 68.

It will be seen in the drawings that for most of its travel around the ring cam, each yoke 13 is inclined to the radius of the ring, due to the upper cam track having a smaller diameter than the lower one. This inclining or skewing of the yoke holds pin 16 in the trailing end of slot 17. However, beneath the label magazine the ring cam is provided with a concave section 75, the axis of which is on the above-mentioned imaginary straight line extending from the center of drive shaft 1 perpendicular to the row of labels. This concave section extends through both cam tracks. At the entering end of this concave section, the lower cam track has a convex section 76.

Before the cam rollers 27 and 29 on a yoke reach the convex and concave sections 76 and 75 of the cam tracks, cam roller 19 is engaged by drum cam 6 in such a position that the associated vacuum bar is held in the position shown at the left side of FIG. 4 relative to the underlying slide 8. As the rollers travel on around the ring cam, the lower roller reaches the convex section 76 of the lower cam track 32, which starts to turn the yoke clockwise in the arcuate recess 12 of the slide and, in doing so, swings pin 16 forward toward the leading end of slide slot 17. Then, when the upper roller has moved forward a short distance along the upper cam track concave section 75 to the position shown in FIG. 5, pin 16 will be in the dwell position shown in that figure, in which its axis coincides with the axis of concave section 75. At the same time, the cam roller 19 has been moved by a spring 20 to turn the vacuum bar 35 into the position shown in FIG. 5 to engage a label at the end of the stack in the magazine. However, as indicated in FIGS. 6 and 7, the slide continues to move with the rotating drum as its slot 17 moves forward relative to pin 16. This further rotation of the drum causes the slide to move cam rollers 27 and 29 further along sections 75 and 76 of the cam tracks, which now swing the yoke and rollers counterclockwise around the axis of pin 16 without the pin itself moving forward.

During the dwell period of pin 16, the vacuum bar supported by it and against which a label has been drawn, cannot move forward with the rotating drum but, since drum cam 6 is turning, cam roller 19 is swung outwardly to cause the pin to swing the vacuum bar away from the magazine as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and to thereby pull most of the leading label away from the magazine. By the time the upper cam roller 27 is back on the main portion of the upper cam track as shown in FIG. 7, pin 16 is in the trailing end of slot 17 again and will resume moving in a circular path around drive shaft 1 with the drum. Thus, the vacuum bar pulls one end of the label away from the magazine and then, as the bar resumes travel with the drum, it pulls the trailing edge of the label away from the magazine lip 71 that was holding it in place. At about the same time, as shown in FIG. 8 the vacuum bar at the opposite side of the pick-up drum is delivering the label it carries to a vacuum gripper 78 of the label drum for gluing by roll 73 and application to a container.

During rotation of the pick-up drum, the application of vacuum to the vacuum bars and its release from them is, of course, controlled by the valve mounted on the upper part of drive shaft 1. When one of the rectangular holes 47 in the valve registers with opening 59 in the stationary top plate of the valve, the vacuum bar in communication with the registering openings is connected with tube 58, whereby vacuum is applied to that bar. This occurs when a pivot pin 16 reaches the dwell point in front of the label magazine. As the hole 47 continues to move forward around the axis of the drive shaft, it remains in communication with the tube 58 until the hole reaches the end of slot 61. Just as the label-carrying vacuum bar 35 reaches the position shown in FIG. 8 beside gripper 78, the hole 47 reaches recess 62, which connects it with the atmosphere and thereby releases the vacuum from the bar. in the meantime, another valve (not shown) has connected the gripper with a source of vacuum so that the label released from the bar is transferred from the pick-up drum to the labelapplying drum.

With the apparatus described herein, each vacuum bar stops in front of the label magazine in the very same position, draws a label against it, swings away from the magazine to pull the adjacent end of the label out of the magazine and then resumes its travel around the inside of the ring cam. The result is that the same area of each successive label is engaged by a vacuum bar so that each label will be presented in the same position to a gripper 78 on the label drum, which in turn will be able to accurately locate the labels on the containers traveling by it on the conveyor. Since forward movement of each vacuum bar is stopped while it is attaching itself to a label in the magazine, high speed operation does not affect the accuracy of label application.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, 1 have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for picking labels from a magazine and delivering them to label-applying apparatus, comprising a drum, means for continuously rotating the drum on a vertical axis, a stationary circular cam encircling the drum and having upper and lower annular cam tracks, a slide carried by the drum and movable radially thereof beside the cam, a yoke extending lengthwise of the slide, means connecting the yoke to the slide for movement by the slide around the inside of the cam, a pair of cam follower rollers carried by the outer end of the yoke on vertical axes spaced circumferentially of the cam, a spring urging one of said rollers against the upper cam track and the other roller against the lower cam track, a vertical vacuum bar extending upwardly at the inner end of the yoke and provided with a vertical row of air inlets facing the outer end of the slide,

means pivoting the lower end of said bar to the inner end of the yoke on a vertical pivot axis at one side of said row of air inlets, said cam having a concave track section engageable by said rollers and forming an arc whose axis is at a dwell point coninciding with said vertical pivot axis while both the rollers are engaging said concave track section, said yoke and slide connecting means being located between said bar pivoting means and the outer end of the yoke and forming a rotatable connection permitting the yoke to turn relative to the slide on a vertical axis as the rollers travel along said concave track section of the cam with said vertical pivot axis dwelling at said dwell point, the drum having a cam surface adjacent its axis, and a lever projecting laterally from said bar pivoting means, the outer end of the lever being engaged by the drum cam surface to cause the vacuum bar to swing away from said circular cam to remove a label from the magazine while said vertical pivot axis dwells at said dwell point.

2. Label picking apparatus according to claim 1, in which said drum is provided with a slot extending diametrically thereof, said apparatus including a slide disposed in each end of said slot, and a yoke connected to each slide.

3. Label picking apparatus according to claim 2, in which said spring is disposed between the inner ends of said slides and urges them apart.

4. Label picking apparatus according to claim 1, in which said vertical pivot axis is at the trailing side of said vacuum bar inlets.

5. Label picking apparatus according to claim 1, in which said yoke and slide connecting means is formed by an arcuate recess in the outer end of said slide, and a convex surface of said yoke fitting in said recess and turning therein as said yoke rollers travel across said concave cam section.

6. Label picking apparatus according to claim 1, in which said slide is provided with a transverse slot extending vertically therethrough, said bar pivoting means extends downwardly through said slot and is movable lengthwise thereof, and said lever is located below the slide.

7. Label picking apparatus according to claim 1, including a vertical drive shaft for the drum, conduit means connected with said vacuum bar inlets for connecting them with a suction source, and a rotary valve in said conduit means operated by said drive shaft for periodically opening and closing the conduit means.

8. Label picking apparatus according to claim 1, in which said drum is provided with a plurality of said slides and yokes and vacuum bars spaced uniformly around it, said vertical pivot axis of each bar is at the trailing side of the bar inlets, said yoke and slide connecting means is formed by an arcuate recess in the outer end of each slide and a convex surface of the adjoining yoke fitting in said recess for turning therein, each slide is provided with a transverse slot extending vertically therethrough, said bar pivoting means extend downwardly through said slots and are movable lengthwise thereof, and each lever is located below a slide. 

1. Apparatus for picking labels from a magazine and delivering them to label-applying apparatus, comprising a drum, means for continuously rotating the drum on a vertical axis, a stationary circular cam encircling the drum and having upper and lower annular cam tracks, a slide carried by the drum and movable radially thereof beside the cam, a yoke extending lengthwise of the slide, means connecting the yoke to the slide for movement by the slide around the inside of the cam, a pair of cam follower rollers carried by the outer end of the yoke on vertical axes spaced circumferentially of the cam, a spring urging one of said rollers against the upper cam track and the other roller against the lower cam track, a vertical vacuum bar extending upwardly at the inner end of the yoke and provided with a vertical row of air inlets facing the outer end of the slide, means pivoting the lower end of said bar to the inner end of the yoke on a vertical pivot axis at one side of said row of air inlets, said cam having a concave track section engageable by said rollers and forming an arc whose axis is at a dwell point coninciding with said vertical pivot axis while both the rollers are engaging said concave track section, said yoke and slide connecting means being located between said bar pivoting means and the outer end of the yoke and forming a rotatable connection permitting the yoke to turn relative to the slide on a vertical axis as the rollers travel along said concave track section of the cam with said vertical pivot axis dwelling at said dwell point, the drum having a cam surface adjacent its axis, and a lever projecting laterally from said bar pivoting means, the outer end of the lever being engaged by the drum cam surface to cause the vacuum bar to swing away from said circular cam to remove a label from the magazine while said vertical pivot axis dwells at said dwell point.
 2. Label picking apparatus according to claim 1, in which said drum is provided with a slot extending diametrically thereof, said apparatus including a slide disposed in each end of said slot, and a yoke connected to each slide.
 3. Label picking apparatus according to claim 2, in which said spring is disposed between the inner ends of said slides and urges them apart.
 4. Label picking apparatus according to claim 1, in which said vertical pivot axis is at the trailing side of said vacuum bar inlets.
 5. Label picking apparatus according to claim 1, in which said yoke and slide connecting means is formed by an arcuate recess in the outer end of said slide, and a convex surface of said yoke fitting in said recess and turning therein as said yoke rollers travel across said concave cam section.
 6. Label picking apparatus according to claim 1, in which said slide is provided with a transverse slot extending vertically therethrough, said bar pivoting means extends downwardly through said slot and is movable lengthwise thereof, and said lever is located below the slide.
 7. Label picking apparatus according to claim 1, including a vertical drive shaft for the drum, conduit means connected with said vacuum bar inlets for connecting them with a suction source, and a rotary valve in said conduit means operated by said drive shaft for periodically opening and closing the conduit means.
 8. Label picking apparatus according to claim 1, in which said drum is provided with a plurality of said slides and yokes and vacuum bars spaced uniformly around it, said vertical pivot axis of each bar is at the trailing side of the bar inlets, said yoke and slide connecting means is formed by an arcuate recess in the outer end of each slide and a convex surface of the adjoining yoke fitting in said recess for turning therein, each slide is provided with a transverse slot extending vertically therethrough, said bar pivoting means extend downwardly through said slots and are movable lengthwise thereof, and each lever is located below a slide. 